Concept Rubric Grid

Below, you will see the conceptual rubric for grading. These may change as the project progresses. Several notes are given below the table. The lowest possible score is 15, the highest 100. See below table for explanations.

Category	1	2	3	4	5
Grammar	Grammar errors made this nearly unreadable	Grammar errors made this hard to follow	Grammar errors detracted from piece	Minor grammar errors, not significant	No or almost no grammar errors
Formatting@	No discernible formatting	Formatting was inconsistent and unclear	Formatting was consistent but incorrect	Formatting errors were present, but minor	No or almost no formatting errors
Thesis*	Thesis was unintelligible	Thesis was confusing	Thesis was clear but not well written	Thesis well written but not excellent	Thesis was excellent
	1	2	3	4	5
Flow	No flow to piece	Piece had major sections out of place	Piece had minor sections out of place	A few sections detracted from the flow	The flow was excellent with almost no break in flow
Argument	Arguments do not follow	Arguments are poorly written and do not follow	Arguments are logical but ambiguous	Arguments are good, but poorly worded	Arguments well placed, logical, and strong
Relevance	Piece is irrelevant	Piece is slightly relevant or not timely	Piece is relevant to topic	Piece is off balance, but relevant and timely	Piece is relevant and timely
	1	2	3	4	5
Voice	Voice nonexistent	Voice is clear but grossly inappropriate	Voice is too casual	Voice is good, but inconsistent	Voice excellent
Arrangement	No clear order	Order unclear and distracts	Order clear but distracts	Some items not well arranged	No major issues with arrangement
Works Cited*	Works cited completely incorrect formatting	Works cited page bad, inconsistent formatting	Formatting incorrect but consistent	Formatting has minor errors	Formatting correct with almost no errors
	1	2	3	4	5
Knowledge	Author has no discernible knowledge of this subject	Author has poor grasp of this subject	Author has decent grasp of this subject	Author shows good grasp of this subject	Author shows scholarly knowledge of this subject
Novelty	Nearly plagiarized	No new insight	Some insight but derivative	Good insight	Excellent insight
Conclusion*	No clear conclusion	Conclusion has new information	Conclusion too long or rambling	Conclusion weak but clear	Conclusion concise and strong
	1	2	3	4	5
Abstract*	Abstract is poorly written to be nearly unreadable	Abstract is cut and paste from piece	Does not summarize main points	Points are addressed but poorly written	Excellent
Opening	Opening is confusing, or badly written	Opening is  irrelevant but rambling or choppy	Opening is relevant and concise but unfocused	Opening is focused and concise but not engaging	Opening is engaging and well written
Body	Disorganized and badly written	Body is choppy or rambling with little flow	Elements do not mesh, but piece is readable	Some parts out of place, concise and readable	Body is well organized, concise and engaging
	1	2	3	4	5
End	There is no clear ending	Ending is tacked on	Ending is poorly written	Multiple problems with mechanics or flow	No problems taking away from positive effect
Citations*	Citations exist, but there are nearly none	Too many or not enough citations	Citations are not formatted correctly	Citations have some problems, but are consistent	Citations are correct with few or no errors
Quotes#	Far too many or far too few quotations for style	Quotes do not add to piece	Quotes take away from flow but are relevant	Quotes are poorly formatted or ambiguous	Quotes are used properly
	1	2	3	4	5
Style	Errors made piece almost unreadable	Errors made piece hard to read	Piece was readable but errors were distracting	Errors in style did not detract from readability	Few or no errors in style
Research	No clear research done	Research has no scholarly sources or is inadequate	Nonscholarly sources or research not complete	Sources are scholarly but some are irrelevant	Sources are relevant and scholarly
	1	2	3	4	5

@ Formatting may be in MLA, APA, Chicago, or BlueBook. The piece must meet one of these.

* These categories may be scored as 0 if this is absent.

# If no quotes are used, the piece may be scored as 0 or 5. In the case of MLA and BlueBook, some quotes should be present. In other formats, they may or may not be seen.